


When I See Your Face

by Reda



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Angst, M/M, mentions of Luke/Tear, oh that sounds worse than it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 20:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15445176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reda/pseuds/Reda
Summary: Sometimes when Guy looked at Luke, he saw the face of an enemy.





	When I See Your Face

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic for them. Not sure if there's even a fandom for this right now.

 ~!~

_Sometimes when Guy looked at Luke…_

_...he saw the face of an enemy._

_Luke was the son of the man who had **murdered** Guy’s family. The son of the man who had claimed his father’s sword – as well as his head – as a conquest of war. The son of the man Guy had vowed to **destroy** in the name of revenge._

_The son he was supposed to kill one day._

~!~

The sword hung from a pedestal, high above his reach. Guy knew that sword. He would never forget his father’s sword. To see it here, hanging in an enemy’s house, as a prize to be brandished before the world, made his blood boil hot in his veins.

Clenching his fists at his side, he turned at a voice calling his name. Luke, the child son of his enemy, stopped by the nearby door and stared back at him with shaking eyes. Guy could only imagine what the redhead saw in his glare.

He had been here for a few years, maybe less, and the brat was already beginning to annoy him to no end. Guy, masquerading as a servant in order to get close to his enemies, had taken on the job of practically babysitting this little red-headed idiot. So what if the boy had been kidnapped and lost all of his memories? He still had a home, didn’t he? He still _had_ family to return to. What did Guy have?

Nothing.

One day, Duke Fabre would have nothing, too. One day, revenge would be complete. But he had to wait on Van’s signal. So he worked, along with Pere, as a servant in the household of someone he hated most in this world.

And he waited on the baby redhead.

“Ah, Guy,” Pere said into the heavy silence, appearing beside him. “There you are. Young Master Luke has been looking for you. I think he wants to play.”

A firm hand gripped onto his shoulder and squeezed tightly. Hard enough to make Guy squirm a little, losing his glare for a grimace instead. The slight pain was enough to bring him back to his senses. Enough to pull his attention away from the past and focus on his current job.

There was no telling how long he would have to play servant, but he couldn’t give them away. He had to stay vigilant. He had to play the part well. He had to give in and be nice to Luke.

So he put on a smile and laughed, rubbing his eyes as he walked over to his master. “Sorry, Luke, did I scare you? Something must have been in my eyes. See? It’s even making me tear up.”

It wasn’t hard to fake a few simple tears. Just enough to make his eyes water. Putting his past behind him for now – for _now_ – Guy forced a grin for Luke and fell into his role.

“Is Pere right?” he asked. “Did you want to play a game?”

The little redhead gaped up at him, searching his eyes for a tense moment of silence. Then he raised a hand and tapped Guy on the arm. “You’re it.”

Guy watched the son of his enemy spin around and run off through the manor. He sighed, glancing back to one of the few members in this household – another servant – who knew the truth, who even knew Guy’s real name. With a grateful wave to Pere, Gailardia Galan Gardios and his past disappeared into the deepest recesses of his mind for another day.

It was time to chase after Luke.

~!~

_Sometimes when Guy looked at Luke…_

_...he saw the face of a friend._

_A pretentious spoiled brat – but a friend nonetheless. Luke often whined and complained, but he also made sure to tell Guy how he appreciated him, even if it was a passing “you’re more than a servant to me.”_

_They could joke and laugh and tease each other through any problem. Before he knew it, Guy was willing to stick by Luke through the toughest of situations. In the end, his loyalty went to the son of his enemy and seeing Luke’s growth throughout their journey reassured him that this person deserved his friendship after all._

~!~

The campfire was warm.

Guy sat by the light, legs crossed, sword propped up against his shoulder. A lot had happened. A lot of soul searching. A lot of changed plans. A lot of secrets unveiled.

“Guy.”

He closed his eyes as the source of all his troubles sat down beside him. Luke wanted to talk. Guy took a breath, let it out slowly, and then glanced over at his friend and traveling companion.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep, Luke?”

Green eyes glanced around at everyone else in the party who had long since turned in for the night. Then those eyes turned on him. “I couldn’t sleep.”

Guy smiled. “All right, why not?”

“Guy...”

Silence hung in the air and Guy sighed. One look in those green eyes told him exactly why his now-short-haired friend couldn’t catch any shuteye. “You’re still worried about what happened back in Grand Chokmah, aren’t you?”

“You really hated me. All this time.”

Turning his gaze to the fire, Guy avoided the look in his friend’s eyes. A look he wasn’t used to seeing there so much. Ever since Akzeriuth, Luke had been like this – easier to fall into the trap of hating himself. Guy did what he could to keep Luke from getting depressed, but this reveal must have hit harder than he thought.

“Sorry,” he murmured, unsure what else to say. “But, yeah, I did.”

When in doubt, let the truth come out, he decided. It was already out anyway.

“Then why are you still here?”

“I told you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but -”

“Luke,” Guy interrupted. “You’re not the only one who can change. In fact, I think it’s your fault that I changed. I never should have let my hatred be aimed at you in the first place, but I was young and, I guess, sort of envious. A part of me can understand how Asch feels because of that. You had everything that I had lost.”

If he had spilled all this to the past Luke, Guy was sure the conversation would have already shifted. Or that Luke would insist he had no blame. Or he would shrug it off. But this Luke… this… _redeemed_ version of his friend, well, this Luke sat still and listened to it all.

In fact, he listened so well that Guy had to poke him a few times to get him to talk. Back and forth they went in front of the blazing fire. Chatting about the past. About the truth. About their friendship.  
  
About how somewhere along the way, Guy had decided he no longer needed revenge, and how it was mostly his friendship with Luke that had caused such a change. An unexpected change, but not an unwelcome one.

When Luke finally went to bed, Guy stared into the fire again, taking up his duties on watch, and letting the acceptance finally flow through him. He cracked a small smile and let out a deep breath, as if he had been holding something in for the longest time. The weight had eased.

“Thanks, Luke,” he murmured. “You did it again.”

~!~

_Sometimes when Guy looked at Luke…_

_...he saw the face of a lover._

_Years passed, and when Luke returned to them, Guy found his heart tangled in a mess. Luke and Tear were close, too close, for him to intrude. He had long since accepted that his deeper friendship with Luke was based in something more, at least on his side._

_A one sided love was fine with him, though. He could sit from the sidelines and watch Luke grow even more now. Watch him grow in love with Tear._

_As long as Luke was happy, he told himself, it didn’t matter if he felt fulfilled in life or not. But then the impossible happened._

_Luke came to him._

~!~

“What about Tear?”

It probably wasn’t the smartest, smoothest thing to say, but Luke laughed a little and shook his head. “Guy, I told you. We tried. It didn’t work. I’m not the same as I once was, after all. It was nice at times, sure, but… I wanted to see you again.”

So much he could remark on. So much he wanted to say, but instead he walked up to Luke and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder. Words took a second to form. Lips parted and then were silenced with a finger.

“You always came for me, you know. You waited for me.”

The finger stayed on his lips, running along them. Guy closed his mouth and gulped. Had someone told Luke how he felt? Had someone figured it out and spilled the secret? (His mind immediately went to Jade – but then he couldn’t linger on that thought for long.)

“You don’t have to wait anymore, Guy,” Luke said. “I’m here. I’d like to stay with you, if you’ll have me.”

So reminiscent of something he had told Luke once before, and the shine in the redhead’s eyes made him sure the man had done it on purpose. Guy’s mind was still a haze of denial, his words getting stuck in the back of his throat before they could ever truly form, but he managed to nod his head at the very least.

“Great, then, Guy, is it all right if I...” the words drifted off into a whisper and then silence, hanging between them, as Luke removed the finger from his lips and brought his own lips close enough to breathe on him. “...kiss...y-”

As soon as he heard the word, Guy’s brain returned to him. He snatched Luke up in his arms and smashed their lips together. A kiss. With the one he had loved all this time. A spark flying between them, encircling them, feeding their need.

It was sloppy, as all first kisses are, but his heart danced and sang in his chest and finally _finally_ he felt _all_ the tension built up over years release. The truth was out. The full truth. No more secrets.

He had all he had ever needed in his life. They broke apart. They laughed. They talked through the night of the signs they had missed while growing up. And then they fell asleep side by side, not as master and servant, not as friends, but as lovers, growing together for the rest of their days.


End file.
